TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Disparity in prehospital scene time for geriatric trauma patients JO - American journal of surgery A1 - Ordoobadi, Alexander J. A1 - Peters, Gregory A. A1 - Westfal, Maggie L. A1 - Kelleher, Cassandra M. A1 - Chang, David C. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: Geriatric patients face disparities in prehospital trauma care. We hypothesized that geriatric trauma patients are more likely to experience prolonged prehospital scene time than younger adults.

METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the 2017 National Emergency Medical Services Information System. Patients who met anatomic or physiologic trauma criteria based on national triage guidelines were included (n = 16,356). Geriatric patients (age≥65, n = 3594) were compared to younger adults (age 18-64). The primary outcome was prolonged scene time (>10 min). Multivariable logistic regression was performed, controlling for patient demographics, on-scene treatments, and injury severity.

RESULTS: Geriatric patients were more likely to experience prolonged scene time than younger adults after controlling for other factors (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.57-2.04, p < 0.001). The likelihood of prolonged scene time reached OR 2.29 (95% CI 1.85-2.84) for patients age 70-79 and OR 2.66 (95% CI 2.07-3.42) for patients age 80-89, relative to age 18-29.

CONCLUSIONS: Geriatric trauma patients are more likely than younger adults to have prolonged prehospital scene time. This disparity may be caused by delayed recognition of injury severity or age-related cognitive biases.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0002-9610 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.10.031 ID - ref1 ER -